Users may place and receive internet-based calls using voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) via the customer's existing plain old telephone service (POTS) telephone equipment operating in its current fashion. Such a configuration allows a user to utilize existing POTS telephones to place and receive public switched telephone network (PSTN)-based calls as well as VoIP-based calls, thus avoiding the need to purchase redundant telephone hardware equipment.
In placing and receiving a call, data packets are transmitted and received between a network and a remote terminal. In transmitting the data packets, headers may be processed, such as by compression, to reduce the bandwidth requirement to transmit the data packets.